The second day came and we had to walk down again to Cowboy Town for the FREE breakfast that comes with the room. I just realized I have to repeat this again tomorrow. The food is not fantastic, but will do. Even though there are choices, we decided to stick with western. It's hard to screw up a western breakfast. At least that's what I think. It was a fast breakfast because we still wanted to start our day early. We have 2 places to go today. It's the Animal World and the Water World.
We got out of Cowboy Town and managed to catch the Banana Bus which will drive us to Animal World. The strange thing is we have to pay RM1 for it. Some guest do not because they have passes (they probably paid more for their package anyway). There were lots of complain about the RM1 fare. For me, well if cheating is going to buy me that ticket to Hell, I might as well do it for a bigger deal. RM1 is not worth it. So, actually I voluntarily paid for all the Banana Bus ride here in A'Famosa, which actually did not even hit RM10 I guess...
We were early at the Animal World and Water World. They are side by side anyway. Given that yesterday was rainy, I guess it will be today too. But against all logic senses, I bought the both theme park ticket with the Buffer Lunch. It is clearly stated that if it rains, there will not be refund. So in we go to Animal World. We saw the Red Indian performers and we took a photo at the entrance. Then we took another one with the parrot on my shoulder. I bet I look like the super fat version of Jack Sparrow without the eye patch. Then we saw something which we don't get everyday. The elephants. The trainers were walking them across the park in front of the restaurant. It just walk right in front of me! No cage, no chain, nothing. It seems pretty happy though. It smells bad though... Haha, I guess that's why its not easy to keep elephants as pets.
We proceed and found a place where we can board the Lorry. OK, to be dead honest, I did not do my research about the Animal World. Its just another Zoo I supposed. I remember I visited a private Zoo in Malacca more than a decade ago. It was cheap but pathetic. I wondered if that evolved into Animal World. In any case, we were too early and the staff told us to visit the nearby Chicken House first.
The Chicken House basically has all the basic, well chicken stuff. I had seen them mostly in science labs etc. The eggs, the hens, roosters etc. But there is something of great interest here. In a glass cage, there are lots and lots of cute little fluffy yellow chicks! They will run around as you moved around! We basically burnt the 10 minutes there watching the chicks and ignoring all other chicken exhibits.
So, we were out there again at the Lorry station. I noticed what this was then. It is a Safari. Or Reverse Zoo as I called it. The animals gets a chance to see us in the cages for a change. The lorries where modified so that we can sit in behind and it is covered by a cage. There were a group of monks / nuns there too. I guess times changes too. And all professional move on. They need a vacation too. We managed to get on the second Lorry because it was filled by them in the first.
The ride was great. I mean, I had never been to a Safari before. What I saw was really fantastic. HAPPY animals. Can you believe that? The lion lazily enjoying the sun, the bear sitting down and enjoying it meals. Antelopes runs about and Crocodiles lying in their pool with their big mouth opened. These animals are actually very happy from the way I see it. It is so different from those caged in the standard zoo! I am pretty much a animal lover and this really thrilled me a lot. I did not think it is possible. To recreate the animal's natural habitat etc... Its pretty much like Zoo Tycoon if you played that game. The truck goes through zone by zone, each designed for different type of animals and separated with gates. Well, except the gate requires manual opening and closing here. The ride can get a bit fun and rough. So we held on pretty tight. Taking photographs here is very challenging due to the ride. But fortunately, the driver will stop every here and there. But the cage really limit the creativity. Well, I just sit back and enjoy the ride.
After the almost 45 minutes ride, we are back to the station. We noticed that the animal show is starting and rush off to the show. Well, in fact 2 shows. In between, we had a short walk to visit some of the other "Caged" animals. The first animal show was the Elephant show which showcase the various talents of Elephants. Basically, I had seen similar ones in Thailand. The Elephants will carried the staff in various position, play football, basketball etc. We also bought some sugarcane at RM4, but was really worth it when you feel the Elephant grab it from your hand. The only thing that is perhaps upsetting is that they actually stick the "A'famosa" sticker on the sugarcane. Perhaps they are worried that people bring their own sugarcane? Well, I think its a bad idea if the Elephant does swallow these, although I doubt it. The Elephants probably just drain the juice, eat the inside and throw away the skin. Oh, during the show, one of the elephants actually poo and pee. Haha, that was not something we see often. There was also this man who went all the way in front to take photo and was blocking everyone. People started to shout and complain, but he turned deaf year until somebody walked over and ask him to squad down. Shame on you! Must be Singaporean.
After some casual walking, we visited a second animals show with all the other animals (except elephants). Its like the Bird Park and Zoo show combined. They had parrots, seal and other animals performing on the show. Its nothing new, but still its fun and joyful to see this once in a while. One thing they did well was to have the Eagle and Parrot pick up donations from the audience hands. Its a nice way to get donations. The doners also get a bird painting (done by the bird itself) for a souvenir. However one incident happened here which I am pretty upset about. One rather naughty boy was holding the notes but he grab the bird when it landed and the bird immediately peaked him in defense. He swing and threw the bird onto the floor. And he dared to CRY! I feel sorry for the bird. In fact you can see that the staff standing behind was very unhappy with the boy's behavior. He may cried, but I am sure nobody pitied him. He pretty much asked for it.
Then I notice there is a place called Monkey Island. Well, that's the name of a PC Game I really loved too. To get there, you need to take the speedboat which uses the Yamaha 40 OBM. They actually build a treehouse on top of it which shelter the driver and the passengers. Its was a clever idea. Monkey Island actually houses some monkeys obviously. Some were even allowed to roam around. Its not big, but the most lovable creature here is probably the Slow Loris. It is caged though. So touching it was not possible (and not advisable actually).
We looked for the lunch restaurant next after coming back from the Monkey Island. The coxswain actually asked us to move front so that the water splash in. Well, I knew what to expect since I was a coxswain once too. Jane jump up onto the chair when the water came in. So we head for the restaurant which was not too far and found ourselves inside the buffer lunch restaurant. I must say, we hasn't have some real decent food for a long time. This is a good place for that. Plenty to choose from and plenty to eat. Well except I screwed up on the part of making the glass jelly drink because I mixed Tea into the Syrup water. It was ok, but I doubt this invention will catch on. I call it "Ching Chou Tea". :) We took our time and refilled. We had a water issue and did not drink much. So we took the chance to restock and reload here. I just wanted to get ourselves ready cos we have still lots to cover for the rest of the day.
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